Trump Hires Roger Ailes’ Right Hand Man As Comms Director

Bill Shine, formerly a Fox News co-president, has accepted the role as Donald Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff For Communication. The move solidifies worried on the left that Fox News has become a sort of state-run TV that promotes Trump’s agenda with unwavering support.

Shine, a long-time friend of Sean Hannity, was a logical choice for the role.

The White House is expected to make a formal announcement by the end of the week. “He’s already outsourced a lot of his communications stuff to Fox News,” a Republican close to the White House told Politico. “He has a tremendously close relationship with Hannity, so he’s going to put Hannity’s guy in there.”

In fact, a source at CNN says it was Hannity who pushed “big time” for Shine to take over the vacant position.

Trump often wakes up in the morning and immediately starts trading tweets with the hosts of his favorite morning show, Fox & Friends. Hannity has also been named by many sources as Donald Trump’s most trusted “unofficial” advisor.

Trump will now be tasked with the job of alleviating concerns over hiring a man who helped oversee Fox News during the period in which Fox Chief Roger Ailes was engaged in various sexual harassment claims.

From Vanity Fair:

. . . some of the president’s allies fear that he’s bringing in a target of the “Me Too” movement who will focus more attention on the president’s own problems with women.

Shine, who for years served as former Fox chief Roger Ailes’s right-hand man, was ousted from the network over his handling of sexual harassment claims.

Shine was eventually forced out of Fox News because of his allegiance to Ailes. The new Comms Director continues to maintain his innocence, claiming he knew nothing of the rampant sexual harassment that was occurring all around him.

It will be interesting to see if Shine manages to last longer than three months in the role or even 10 days for that matter. Sean Spicer held the position for 45 days and was replaced by Mike Dubke who resigned after only three months. Anthony Scaramucci took over the role but was forced to resign in just 10 days after he engaged in an obscenity-fueled ran with a New Yorker reporter. Shine, at this point, can only hope to last longer than Hope Hicks who took over for 225 days.

The Comms Director role has been vacant since March 29, 2018.

The White House is expected to officially announce Shine’s role by end of the week.